Fur fuotgating and cleaning



Feb. 17, 1948. N. ROOT FUR FUMIGATING AND CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 5, 1946 Zzdeizi'w/ m @m @7,5% @fm/zaak@ ananas 'l 1 i During the time the machine is operating the v K covers |5| are closed. When fumigant and other Y volatiles are being exhausted the covers ISL are opened to allow air to enter for flushing the;l

3i pri- ...1g

fumigant out of the drum, the blower viding the proper` suction.

and |52 are opened, the fur garments inserted through the openings in the casing and drum-and deposited within the drum 42. Then a predeterminedy amount of the proper cleaning material, for example, wood sawdust impregnated with detergents or solvents, is sprinkled over the garments.` The doors 64 and |52 are then locked to thereby'provide a gas-proof seal. The drum 42 is then vmade to rotate by any suitable power means and simultaneously therewith a stream of'fumigant gas, which may be a mixture of carbon dioxide and methyl formate, is fed into the drum 42 from the gas cylinder; |44 by having the valve |45 open to allow the gas to ow' through the copper tube |43 into the nozzle 40 and on through the interior of the shaft 38 into the drum. During the cleaning and fumigation doors $4 and |52 are tightly sealed and the covers |5| and damper |53 closed, thus assuring a gas tight condition within the casing` 42. amount of fumigant is admitted to thoroughly permeate the contents of the drum and is al lowed to accumulateto produce a pressure slightly greater than atmospheric :to 'assure thorough penetration of the fumigant. During ,this operation the fur garments and cleaning substance are tumbled together 'within the drum for about thirty minutes or unil it is determined that the garments are properly cleaned.4 During this'portion'of the process, known in thetrade as drumming,'the garments andthe sawdust are' retained within the drumin the necessarir intimacy of contact, whereby the" tumbling motion of the garments and sawdust effect an effi-'- cient cleansing action, the fragmentary'particles A sucient being brought down and around the hairs in a v- `peration the 'screens 52 are closed by shutters 32so that :none of the sawdust .detergent'material may escapefrom the ldrum. After-the desired detergent and fumigant action has been completed, the shutters 32 are opened and the rotation ofthe drum 42-continued until all of the sawdust material has been thoroughly shaken out of the garments and removed from the drum by sifting through the screens VSi. "1'

The closing and opening of the screens 52 may be carried out in any convenient manner. Thus. this may be accomplished by means of the shutter-leaves arrangement which is described in my patent herein referred to, or one may use other means such as providing the screens with a sliding damper arrangement.

u The above example illustrates a combined cleansing fand fumigating action carried out in one step in a rotating drum. Thefumlgating u treatment, however, does not necessarily have to take place simultaneously with the detergent action. One may, if one so desires, lrst apply the detergent, then shake out the sawdust detergent and separateit from the fur garments in the drum and then allow the gaseous fumigant material-to .feed ,from the cylinder |44 into the drum and apply the fumigating treatment. The advantage of this separate fumigating step over the commonly used de-mothing cabinet process resides in the Afact that in the present instance the inclosure of the garments within the cabinet makes it unnecessary to fumigate under pressure. The surfaces of the furs are eilciently exposed to' thegaseous fumigant, thereby enabling the fumigant to penetrate all portions of the fur garmentwithout the need of additional pressure to cause such penetration. Another advantage of carrying out the fumigation'in the rotating drum is the elimination fof the expense of separate fumigating equipment.

My invention may also be advantageously carried out by usingy a combined detergent and fumigating procedure within a completely closed, non-screened rotating drum and then transferring the cleansed, fumigated fur garment to a rotating perforatev drum for the purpose of sepa--4 rating the sawdust detergent from the garments. The essence of the Ainvention resides in the provision of a means for v-furnigating fur garments within the same equipment used for cleansing the garments. While I have shown a particularembodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made, and I therefore contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modicatioris as fall within the spirit and scope of my invention. v

Iclaim:

1. A cleaning machine adapted to receive fur garments, a particulate cleaning material and a gaseous fumigant, comprising in combination asupporting structure, a hollow lcylindrical drum having a hollow v*shaft and supported forrota tion in said structure and adapted to receive the garments, cleaning material and fumigant, means for feeding gaseous fumigant from a supply cylinder to said shaft of said drum, and means for removing said fumigant from said drum.

. `2. A machine forsimultaneously cleaning andfumigating fur garments including the use lof a particulate cleaning material, comprising in combination a frame, a perforate hollow cylindrical drum for receiving the garments and vcleaningr material mounted for rotationI in said frame and having a hollow shaft, the interior of said shaft being influid communication with the interior of said drum, a casing surrounding said drum, means for feeding gaseous fumigant from a sup-y ply cylinder to said hollow shaft, and exhaustfan means for discharging said fumigant from said drum. Y -3. A-machine for Y Y A fumigating fur garments including. the use .olga

simultaneously cleaning and particulate cleaning' material, comprising in combination a frame, a perforate rotatable hollow cylindrical drum for receiving the garments and cleaning material mounted for rotation in said frame and having a hollow shaft, the interior of said shaft being in fluid communication with the interior of said drum, a casing surrounding said drum, a conduit connected at one end to said shaft and extending to a gaseous fumigant supply cylinder, means for controlling the feed of fumigant from said cylinder to said drum, and pump means for exhausting the iumigant from the drum.

NATHAN ROOT.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

